Just a Second
by Avalon Estel
Summary: A collection of random moments in Konoha Village, most drabblelength, maybe longer. Added: Moments three and four, in which Ino decides to do something nice for a change, and Naruto gets soaked.
1. In Which Shikamaru Takes Charge

Bad Habits

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything in relation with it, be it canon-plot, characters, or copyrights. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

"You know, Chouji, I have a rather troublesome habit," Shikamaru said._

"Oh, yeah?" asked Chouji curiously between mouthfuls of chips. "What's that?"

"Well, it's kind of embarrassing to admit, but it involves…" – here Shikamaru winced – "…women."

Chouji was used to Shikamaru's chauvinistic remarks. "So what is it?" he prodded.

"It seems that no matter how hard I try to avoid them, I let myself be surrounded by them, and am forced to listen to them. And it can't ever be the nice, quiet ones. No. It always has to be the loud, pushy ones."

"The troublesome ones?" Chouji joked.

"Exactly. Ino, that girl from the Sand village…even the Hokage's a pushy old woman. What is this world coming to?" Shikamaru demanded. "Women have begun to overpower us, and we're not doing anything about it!"

"Nothing for it, I guess."

"How troublesome."

"So what are you going to do about this bad habit of being controlled by loud, pushy women?"

"I'm going to break it!" Shikamaru said determinedly, pushing away from the door he'd been leaning against.

"'Atta boy, Shikamaru!" Chouji cheered.

"I will no longer let women control my life!" continued Shikamaru.

Just then, Ino came by with a large bundle of flowers in her arms.

"What are you two doing?" she asked, looking blankly from one boy to the other.

"Nothing," chorused the males.

"Good. Then take these flowers and come with me. We need to deliver them to a house near the edge of the village, and I'm getting tired of carrying them."

"Now's your chance, Shikamaru!" Chouji whispered.

Shikamaru stared at Ino for a time. Ino stared right back, looking annoyed. Then, Shikamaru sighed and took the bouquet from her.

"What?" asked Chouji, bewildered. "What happened to breaking your habit?"

"Maybe tomorrow," Shikamaru muttered. With another world-weary sigh, he followed Ino down the street, leaving Chouji to shake his head in exasperated dismay.


	2. In Which Shinoness is Discussed

**In which Shino-ness is discussed**

Kiba crossed his arms petulantly. "And he's always so…so…_whatever_ about everything!" Kiba complained. Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Actually, Kiba-kun…" Hinata began quietly, "Shino-kun's more like - " Here she sat silent for a few moments, staring off into the distance with a slightly annoyed expression on her face, then reached up and pushed a finger up the bridge of her nose, as if she were pushing up invisible sunglasses, " – about everything."

Kiba's eyes had gone very wide. "Wow…you're right."

"Thank you," Hinata said, turning red.

"Since when have you paid so much attention to Shino?" asked Kiba interestedly. "No one pays attention to Shino. I mean, come on…he's _Shino_."

"Well, we _have_ been on the team for quite some time, Kiba-kun," Hinata said, starting to feel uncomfortable from all the attention.

"Yeah, but still…I didn't know you were so observant."

"Thank you."

"But I still think he's really 'whatever' about everything," Kiba insisted. "Maybe he doesn't _say_ 'Whatever', but you can tell that he's thinking it!"

"Um…actually, you can't tell."

"You're right again, Hinata. I guess you _can't_ tell what he's thinking."

"You two were talking about me, weren't you?" asked a low, flat voice from behind Kiba.

Akamaru began whining, and Kiba ever so slowly turned around. Hinata looked as if she were about to faint.

"Uh…heh, heh…of course not, Shino!" Kiba protested. "Why would we talk about _you_?"

Hinata was hyperventilating.

"Why wouldn't you talk about me?" countered Shino.

"But why _would_ we?"

Shino did exactly what Hinata had said he always did, even pushing the sunglasses up and everything. Then he said, "I don't know."

"So how would you know we _were_ talking about you, if we had been?" continued Kiba.

Hinata had collapsed in a dead faint. She couldn't handle the idea of lying to Shino.

"My bugs told me," Shino said simply.

"Oh."

If Shino were the kind of person that said, "Ah-HAH!", he would have, but he wasn't that kind of person. So instead he said, "So you _were_ talking about me."

"You can't prove that!"

"Yes, I can."

"Oh, yeah? How?"

"Hinata has fainted in a fit of panic. She only reacts that way when she's feeling guilty about something."

"Oh," Kiba said again. "And…were you serious about your bugs telling you about us?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Yes."

Kiba had a sudden idea. "Shino, do you ever say, 'Whatever'?"

"…No."

"Well, do you ever _think_ it?"

"…No."

"Oh."

"Do you have any other pointless questions to ask?"

"No."

"Good. Now, let us revive Hinata."

"Oh, yeah…okay." Kiba had another idea. "Hey, Shino? Could you take off your sunglasses?"

"Must we go through this every day, Kiba?"

"…Yes."

"Then, no, Kiba, I will not remove my glasses."

"Oh, well."


	3. In Which Ino Makes a Kind Gesture

**In Which Ino Makes a Kind Gesture**

Ino thrust the bouquet roughly into Chouji's arms.

"Hold those," she commanded. "I have to do something." Chouji watched as she fixed her ponytail, brushed away strands of hair that had come loose, smoothed down her clothes. When she decided that she was sufficiently primped, she took the flowers back.

"Why are you making yourself look nice for Shikamaru?" asked Chouji.

"What?" Ino cried, indignant. "Are you crazy? I just want to look good in case Sasuke comes by!"

"Oh, of course," Chouji agreed. "Never mind my silly ideas."

"That's right," Ino said, not catching the sarcasm. "Now, knock on the door."

Chouji sighed and obeyed. The door was opened by Shikamaru's father.

"Oh…hi, kids," he said. "Uh…Shikamaru's not feeling well today…"

"We know!" Ino said cheerfully. Chouji marveled at the way she could change her personality the instant an adult came around. "Asuma-sensei told us. That's why we came."

"Well, in that case." Shikamaru's father stepped back from the doorway so that the genin could enter. He led them to Shikamaru's room and opened the door, ushering them inside.

"Just stay quiet," he said as he shut the bedroom door behind them.

"Hey, Shikamaru…?" called Ino tentatively.

Shikamaru was little more than a bundle of blankets piled on a bed by the window on the far side of the room. At the sound of Ino's voice, he peeked hesitantly out of the blankets.

And groaned.

"Even when I'm sick, you have to come and bother me?" he mumbled, pulling the blanket back over his head.

"Hey!" Ino exclaimed. "I resent that!"

"You resent everything," Chouji murmured.

"You shut up!" Ino cried, rounding on him. "And you, Shikamaru – I come all the way over here to see you when you're sick, and you say _that_?"

Shikamaru sighed and sat up a little. "Whatever." He noticed the bouquet in her arms. "What's with those?" he asked, pointing.

"Yeah, I thought it was strangely nice of her to bring you flowers, too," Chouji said with a nod.

"I wasn't bringing him flowers," Ino protested. "These are just what was left over from yesterday's flowers at the shop, and I thought this would be a good way to get rid of them." She stomped over to the bed and pushed the flowers into Shikamaru's hands. "You're such an ungrateful good-for-nothing that you don't even deserve this," she told him. "And I worked so hard to make a kind gesture."

"Thought they were yesterday's flowers," Shikamaru drawled, raising his eyebrows.

"They are!"

"…Well, if it was so troublesome, why did you bother?" he asked.

"To show that I'm better than you!" Ino said matter-of-factly. "I know that if _I_ were the sick one, you _wouldn't_ bother."

Upon closer inspection, Shikamaru noticed that the flowers were fresh, and that Ino looked a lot nicer than she usually did.

Oblivious to his studies, Ino continued her rant. "But you…_you_ never care about _anything_ anyone does. You never notice when someone takes the time to do something for you, and you never bother to thank them afterward."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at how off-target she was. "Well, you know what, Ino?"

"What?" she snapped.

"I'm glad you bothered," he said.

Ino turned red. "Oh! Well…it's nothing…like I said, they're just leftovers…"

"Then these are awfully new leftovers," Shikamaru said with a grin.

Ino scoffed. "Oh, whatever," she said, grinning as well, though hers was a grin of embarrassment. "I'll see you guys later." With a wave, she strode out the door, leaving it to crash shut behind her.

"I do not understand her," Chouji said.

Shikamaru sighed. "And that, my friend, is why females are troublesome."


	4. In Which Naruto Gets Wet

**In Which Naruto Gets Wet**

"Hee, hee!" Naruto giggled, perched on the guardrail of the bridge. "I'm the first one today! Take that, Sasuke!"

"What about me?"

Naruto whipped around to see Sasuke standing behind him. He was holding a closed umbrella and looking annoyed.

"I was just saying that I got here first!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're late!" Then he noticed the umbrella. "What's that for?"

"It's going to rain," Sasuke said, pointing at a dark cloud in the distance.

Naruto laughed. "Stupid Sasuke. It's not going to rain! It's sunny!"

Sasuke turned away from him, a look of complete conviction on his face. "We'll see, Naruto."

"Have you seen Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, changing the subject.

Sasuke shook his head.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun!" called a familiar voice. Sakura came up behind Sasuke, looking absolutely jubilant. She was also holding an umbrella. "Oh, hi, Naruto," she added upon catching sight of her other, less-cool teammate.

Naruto pointed at her umbrella. "Um…Sakura-chan…you _do_ know it's not going to rain, right?" he asked.

"Don't be stupid, Naruto. Of course, it's going to rain!" Sakura scolded. She emphasized by pointing at the same cloud Sasuke had pointed out.

"I'm the stupid one?" asked Sasuke, looking meaningfully at Naruto.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto hopped back onto the guardrail. "We'll see who's right."

Twenty minutes later, there was a downpour. Sakura and Sasuke opened their black and pink umbrellas, respectively, and stood there looking as normal as could be. Naruto, meanwhile, was completely soaked within a matter of seconds.

"Could I share your umbrella, Sakura-chan?" he asked hopefully over the sound of the rain.

"Nope," Sakura said, shaking her head. "You weren't smart enough to bring one, so that's what you get!"

Naruto didn't even bother asking Sasuke.

"Fine!" Naruto cried. "I'll get out of the rain my own way! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Sasuke and Sakura watched as an army of Narutos appeared on the bridge, surrounding the three squad members. Then, the clones simultaneously began climbing over one another, trying to arrange themselves in one of those complicated gymnastic formations that could, in some strange, utterly impossible way, shield Naruto.

Needless to say, the plan failed. Once they'd finished their mighty formation, the clones at the bottom lost their balance, causing the ones on top to topple forward, and in less than a second, all of the clones had landed on top of Naruto and disappeared. Naruto was left lying in a puddle.

And it kept raining.

"I repeat, _I'm_ the stupid one?" Sasuke taunted.

Naruto didn't reply.

The next ten minutes were spent in reflective silence. Naruto continued to lie on the bridge, the very image of defeat; Sakura was alternating between her normal self (I _told_ you so, Naruto. If you'd just listen once in a while…) and her inner self (YOU STUPID IDIOT! HA! I _KNEW_ I'D BE RIGHT!); and Sasuke was looking bored, thinking about philosophical ideas pertaining to rain.

And then it stopped raining. Sasuke and Sakura slowly lowered and shook out their umbrellas. Naruto didn't move, because he'd decided to be an angst-muffin.

And then someone - a tall, silver-haired, book-reading someone – walked past.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried. "You're late again! We were all here an hour ago!"

"I'm not late," Kakashi replied. "I know of no appointments that I had at this time."

"You were supposed to meet _us_ here!" Sakura shouted.

Kakashi stood there, looking utterly blank. Well, as utterly blank as a person can look when the only expression-related feature that anyone can see is a single eye. Kakashi had a way of making that eye pretty expressive.

"I was?" he asked finally.

Sakura groaned and slapped her forehead.

"Forget it," she muttered. "I'm going home. 'Bye, Sasuke-kun!" As she was leaving, she almost stepped on Naruto's prone form. "Oh…'bye, Naruto."

"Goodbye, Sakura-chan," Naruto replied, his voice full of woe and grief.

Sakura rolled her eyes and walked off.

"Well, I guess our meeting's done for the day," Kakashi said, smiling. "Now, I'm going off to get lost on the path of life. 'Bye, boys."

And he walked away as quietly as he had come, his face buried in his book.

Sasuke stared after him in arrogant disbelief. "Once more, Naruto…_I'm _the stupid one?"

Naruto raised his hand from where he was still lying on the boards of the bridge. "Touché."

Sasuke walked away, and Naruto remained sulking on the bridge for another half hour.


End file.
